Unlike Sabah Bersatu, Ongkili says PBS candidates did not join GRS

 

Amid confusion over the status of the four Sabah MPs who left Bersatu, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Maximus Ongkili said his party’s GE15 candidates did not sign up for individual membership from Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) when they contested under the GRS banner.

This comes after concerns that the four Sabah MPs might trigger the anti-hopping law for leaving Bersatu, though it was later claimed that they quit the party and signed up to be GRS members back in October.

“PBS is a party member (of GRS), not individual membership. Our candidates used the GRS logo for GE15 but they also signed an agreement that they were GRS candidates but representing PBS,” Ongkili (above) said to Malaysiakini when contacted.

Ongkili’s denial that PBS candidates had joined GRS individually conflicts with a claim from one of the candidates from Sabah Bersatu who ran in GE15 under the GRS banner.

The candidate, Nixon Abdul Habi, said yesterday that he and the other 11 candidates who contested on the GRS ticket had discreetly signed up as GRS members in October.

He said this means the membership of those in Bersatu was automatically terminated under the party’s constitution, even before the Nov 19 election.

Malaysiakini has attempted to contact Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin to ascertain the membership status of the four MPs, along with the other Sabah Bersatu candidates in the last election. 

However, Hamzah’s team has so far declined to confirm any details, only saying they would release a statement if there is a need to.

Although GRS is known as a coalition of five parties, in the eyes of the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and the Election Commission (EC), it is a normal political party.

GRS was formally registered on March 11. As a coalition, GRS fielded 12 candidates for the Nov 19 election, of whom six were successful.

Immediately after the election, GRS initially pledged allegiance to Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister, but their support wavered just five days later, after which Anwar Ibrahim secured the top job.

On Dec 10, 15 GRS assemblypersons and four MPs publicly declared that they were exiting Bersatu.

The four MPs are Papar MP Armizan Mohd Ali, Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan (Batu Sapi), Jonathan Yasin (Ranau) and Matbali Musah (Sipitang).

Armizan had also previously confirmed that he is now a member of GRS.

Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar

Former law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who oversaw the passage of the anti-hopping law, had earlier opined that the four MPs would have no choice but to vacate their seats once their exit from the party was formalised.

However, he changed his tune after one day, saying he had received reliable information that the quartet contested under the GRS banner as direct members of the coalition, not under Bersatu.

“I have been informed by various reliable sources this morning and this afternoon that these four members of Bersatu left their party in early October 2022, before contesting for the general election on Nov 19, 2022.

“In which case, I have to agree with constitutional lawyer Tengku Fuad Tengku Ahmad that the anti-hopping law does not affect them,” Wan Junaidi said. - Mkini